Hey everybody. I got into minimalist footwear about 2 years ago by wearing Feiyues. Before I always had pain walking and then after awhile it started getting much better. The only problem I had was hills. My calf muscles would get really tight after awhile but now it's much better. I had been playing tennis for year and I discovered the Dunlop Volley's from Australia. I was always used to tennis shoes with ankle support and a thick heel. Well after playing with Dunlop Volley's I can say I will never go back to the typical shoe. I can still sprint at the same speeds I have before and my feet feel lighter.
Sometime last year I decided to sign up for the LA marathon. While I never considered myself a runner, I did always keep physically active. I could not run 2 miles if my life depended on it. My calf muscles just got totally shredded. The first time I did 2 miles it took me 40 minutes since I had to walk so much. After a couple months of going slowly I managed to get a respectable 22 min 2 mile time. Around this point was when I decided to go truly barefoot to see what it was like. In Feiyues I always put a lot of conscious effort into my running form. However running barefoot was a revelation. It was slow for sure but I changed my footing in a way to minimize the pain which ended up being better for my calf mucsles. A month later I managed to get my best 2 miles time by lowering it to 17 minutes.
Right now I am still training for the LA Marathon. My long runs are on Sunday and I wear Feiyue's. During the week I run my shorter runs barefoot. The longest completely barefoot run I've done is 7 miles which I did in 1h15m. I still get blisters but they are much smaller then before. I think my feet will adapt soon. I will definitely do the marathon in minimalist shoes and if I can do a long run barefoot I might actually attempt it barefoot.
Sometime last year I decided to sign up for the LA marathon. While I never considered myself a runner, I did always keep physically active. I could not run 2 miles if my life depended on it. My calf muscles just got totally shredded. The first time I did 2 miles it took me 40 minutes since I had to walk so much. After a couple months of going slowly I managed to get a respectable 22 min 2 mile time. Around this point was when I decided to go truly barefoot to see what it was like. In Feiyues I always put a lot of conscious effort into my running form. However running barefoot was a revelation. It was slow for sure but I changed my footing in a way to minimize the pain which ended up being better for my calf mucsles. A month later I managed to get my best 2 miles time by lowering it to 17 minutes.
Right now I am still training for the LA Marathon. My long runs are on Sunday and I wear Feiyue's. During the week I run my shorter runs barefoot. The longest completely barefoot run I've done is 7 miles which I did in 1h15m. I still get blisters but they are much smaller then before. I think my feet will adapt soon. I will definitely do the marathon in minimalist shoes and if I can do a long run barefoot I might actually attempt it barefoot.
